Thursday 30 Jan 2014

PHARMACYDAILY.COM.AU

Osteoarthritis CMs
A NEW study published in the Annals of Rheumatic Diseases has demonstrated that the glucosamine-chondroitin combination conferred a benefit for osteoarthritis patients. The study was a double-blind randomised placebo-controlled clinical trial with two year follow up. 605 participants aged 45 to 75years with chronic knee pain and evidence of medial tibiofemoral compartment narrowing or joint space narrowing (JSN) were included in the research. Dosing was 1500 mg of glucosamine sulfate and 800 mg of chondroitin sulfate. A statistically significant reduction in JSN at twoyears was recorded for the treated group supporting previous studies with this combination. CLICK HERE to read the abstract.

Judith Smith at APP

tightening of the NHS belt, the crowded market of pharmacies, the increasing role of pharmacy technicians and automated dispensing systems as well as online and e-prescribing - each contributing pressures to pharmacy profitability. A broader role for pharmacists as caregivers will be central to securing the future of community pharmacy, the report said. Smith is an experienced and widely published health services researcher and policy analyst. Before joining the Nuffield Trust in Feb 2009, she spent 14 years working at the Health Services Management Centre, University of Birmingham, where she was senior lecturer, Director of Research and Academic Director of the NHS Management Training Scheme. Pharmacists increasingly provide services that help people stay well and use their medicines to best effect, she wrote. However, the pace of change remains slow, and financial and structural incentives are not sufficiently aligned to support it. Smith will speak on the Friday afternoon of APP - 14 Mar.

NICE new prostate Rx

The UKs National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has issued new draft guidance recommending Xtandi (enzalutamide) as a treatment option for hormone relapsed metastatic prostate cancer in adults. Enzalutamide works in a different way to other drugs currently available for treating prostate cancer and NICE plans to recommend it as an option only under specific circumstances. To read the full details of the draft guidance, CLICK HERE.

PreSeNtiNG at the 2014 APP conference will be Dr Judith Smith, director of policy at the Nuffield Trust in the United Kingdom, and a co-author of Now or never: Shaping Pharmacy for the Future arguably one of the most important reports on pharmacy to emerge in many years said a Guild spokesperson (PD 16 Jan). The report, which was commissioned by the Royal Pharmaceutical Society, was welcomed by the Guild as a critically seminal piece reinforcing the need for community pharmacy to transform and innovate in difficult times. The Guild added that the report summarised the same challenges facing community pharmacy in Australia, namely that the current model of community pharmacy needs to change, forced by the

No E-cigarettes <18 yrs

ThOSe under the age of 18 years will be banned from buying electronic cigarettes in the UK, the government has said. Ministers also planned to make it illegal for adults to buy either traditional or e-cigarettes on behalf of under-18s as well, the BBC reported. Englands chief medical officer Professor Dame Sally Davies said it was not yet known the harm that e-cigarettes could cause to adults, let alone children, the publication said.

Therapeutic sunscreen
the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) has provided a useful update on sunscreen protection reminding that sunscreens with a Sunscreen Protection Factor (SPF) of 4 or more and insect repellents with sunscreen with an SPF of 4 or more and moisturisers with sunscreen and an SPF greater than 15 are therapeutic sunscreens. To read the sunscreen update and other updates from the TGA, go to www.tga.gov.au.

Pharm. med disposal

THE Hong Kong Academy of Pharmacy has said a system to collect and dispose of unwanted medicines through pharmacies needs to be put in place. Throwing unwanted medicine into rubbish bins could contaminate the water and cause other environmental problems, the Standard reported. The Academy has said it would conduct a medicine collection campaign until 28 Feb, the publication reported.

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Moncada biomed lec

PrOfeSSOr Sir Salvador Moncada will give a free Deans Lecture at Monash University today. Professor Moncada founded the Wolfson Institute for Biomedical Research at the University College London, and as director of the Wellcome Research Laboratories, his team identified the role of nitric oxide which has since been understood to be a neurotransmitter, an inflammation modulator and a sensor of cellular distress, leading to the deveopment of drugs for erectile dysfunction including Viagra, Monash said. He also presided over the discovery and development of the anti-epileptic Lamotrigine and the anti-malarial Atovaquone. In addition, he led the development of the anti-migraine compound Zomig.

No plan for co-payment

FOreiGN Affairs Minister Julie Bishop has said the government has no plan for co-payments. The $6 GP co-payments were proposed to the Commission of Audit by former health policy advisor Terry Barnes to reduce avoidable visits (PD 14 Jan), and the proposal was described by Bishop as scare-mongering on Labors part to Nine news. Bishop said it was not a proposal of the Federal Government and was not before the cabinet. I believe that the focus must be on ensuring that Medicare is sustainable into the future. But we have no plans for a copayment. Let the Commission of Audit do its work. The Consumer Health Forum has previously said the government should not introduce the copayment as it would accelerate the trend toward a two-tiered health system and could lead to poorer health for those on low incomes and the chronically ill.

FeetFirst PA training
FEETFIRST is RBs foot health training program for pharmacy assistants to help them provide treatment and prevention support to patients with foot conditions. R&Bs Scholl brand has sponsored Gemma Howorth, an international foot model who has modelled her feet (pictured) for people such as Kate Moss, Rose Byrne, January Jones and Heidi Klum, to visit Australia and help promote good foot care. Gemmas message is to take three simple steps: exfoliate, tone and moisturise. To learn more about FeetFirst, visit www.rbhealthhub.com.au.

RAPS seeks input

The Regulatory Affairs Professionals Society (RAPS) has launched a survey of professionals involved in the regulatory process for healthcare products. The Scope of Practice & Compensation Survey has been conducted for almost 25 years and asks regulatory professionals in industries such as pharmaceuticals about their jobs, backgrounds and compensation. To access the survey CLICK HERE.

Mobile mood research

MOBILE phones, tablets and wearable sensors can help monitor a persons mood. Microsoft Research Visualization and Interaction (VIBE) Research Group manager Dr Mary Czerwinski will discuss research which looks at modelling peoples moods using technology on a mobile phone in her talk Emotion Tracking and Interventions for Memory, Health & Awareness. The lecture is to be held at the University of Sydney on 11 Feb.

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Travel Specials
WELCOME to Pharmacy Dailys travel feature. Each week we highlight a couple of great travel deals for the pharmacy industry, brought to you by Cruise Weekly.

Multivitamins in pregnancy
A NEW study from Denmark has indicated there may be a modest increase of early foetal death associated with the use of multivitamins during pregnancy. For late foetal death, the study concluded that there may be a decreased risk. The authors said the data is not strong or conclusive either way and should not dramatically influence behaviour relating to vitamins during pregnancy. Further studies on preconceptional multivitamin use are needed to guide public health recommendations, they conclude. Published in the International Journal of Epidemiology and titled Periconceptional intake of vitamins and fetal death: a cohort study on multivitamins and folate, the study involved 35,914 women in the Danish National Birth Cohort who at recruitment had reported the number of weeks of supplement use during a 12-week periconceptional period. The main takeaway message was summarised in the accompanying editorial which said that the study should not be interpreted as evidence against current recommendations for folate supplementation. Neither is there strong enough reason to conclude that folate-only supplements should be preferred over multivitamins. To access the abstract of the study, CLICK HERE.

CAOP practice paper

The Australian Pharmacy Council (APC) has released a 106 question Competency Assessment of Overseas Pharmacists (CAOP) exam practice paper on its website. The APC said it was in response to and in support of CAOP candidate requests for further practice questions for the exam. The content and layout of the questions was the same as that in the real exam, but candidates should be aware that the real exam was computer-based and the questions randomised. To access the exam, CLICK HERE.

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Travel Associates is offering a three night package at the Regent Bali, the only all-suites beachfront resort in Sanur. Surrounded by 10 acres of tropical gardens, the Regent Bali has 94 suites including spa suites with separate spa treatment rooms. The package is priced from $779 per person twin share and includes accommodation in a deluxe garden view room, daily breakfast, a 24 hour butler service and a scheduled resortSanur area shuttle service. Valid until 15 Apr for travel from 15 Jun to 14 Jul, 01 Sep to 27 Dec this year and 06 Jan to 28 Mar 2015, to book contact Travel Associates on 1800 017 849. Or join APT as it celebrates the launch of a new collection of luxury small group holidays to India with one of three special deals. For example, the 14 day Spirit of India from Delhi to Kolkata is priced from $9,695, with your companion flying to India for free, including air taxes of up to $780 per person. The package starts with a six night land journey from New Delhi, then a seven night Lower Ganges River cruise aboard the new RV Ganges Voyager luxury river ship. Deals are valid on all bookings until 31 May or until sold out. For more information on other deals or in general, call APT on 1300 278 278.

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Nudging antibiotics
A STUDY published in JAMA Internal Medicine found that displaying poster-sized commitment letters in exam rooms decreased inappropriate antibiotic prescribing for acute respiratory infections (ARI). The study investigated the use of behavioural nudges to influence decision making. There were 954 adults with ARI visits during the three weeks of the study and the nudge consisted of poster-sized letters committing to avoiding inappropriate antibiotic prescribing. The study found that the posted letter resulted in a 19.7% reduction in inappropriate antibiotic prescribing rate relative to control. NPS MedicineWise urged health professionals to pledge to fight antibiotic resistance in wake of the research. To access the study, CLICK HERE.

DISPENSARY CORNER
IM sharked. If youre selling bandages to anyone, take a moment to think about James Grant, a Kiwi junior doctor who, when attacked by a shark, sewed up his wounds before heading to the pub for a beer - then to hospital. Grant was fishing at Garden Bay when a shark had the same idea, biting his leg and detaching only when Grant had given the shark a few stabs with a knife which he lamented was too short, the Southland Times reported. Grant used a needle and thread from a first-aid kit for his pighunting dogs while waiting for his friends to finish spearfishing, after which they took him to the local pub, who served him a beer and some bandages to stop his dripping on the carpet, and then hospital for stitches, the publication reported. COW bomb. Gassy cow is no longer just an insult - its now the cause of an explosion which damaged the roof of a farm shed in Germany. Methane gas from 90 flatulent bovines built up in the shed, located in Rasdorf, until a static electric charge caused the gas to explode with flashes of flame, Reuters reported. One cow was treated for burns, the publication said.

Organ donation high

AUSTRALIAN organ donation rates are at record levels. The Australia and New Zealand Organ Donation Registry and the Organ and Tissue Authority released figures showing organ donation in 2013 was the highest on record since 1989, with 391 donors benefiting 1,122 Australians.

Amgen, Pfizer Q4
PfiZer Inc and Amgen have reported fourth quarter results, with Amgen pulling in profit of US$1b, up 30% year on year. Revenue rose 13% to US$5b, with full year up 8% to US$18.7b. GAAP net income for the full year was US$5b, up 17% year on year. Meanwhile Pfizers Q4 net income of US$2.57b, compared with US$6.32b for the year ago period, nevertheless beat estimates, MarketWatch reported. Sales were US$13.56b compared with the previous years US$13.89b, with revenues coming in at US$13.6b, down 2% year on year.

US IV saline shortage
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is working with three intravenous saline solution manufacturers to address a shortage. The FDA said the shortage, particularly of the saline injection, had been triggered by a range of factors including a reported increased hospital demand, possibly related to the flu season. The FDA has said it was working with Baxter International Inc, Hospira Inc and B. Braun Medical Inc to minimise the impact of the shortage.

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Pharmacy Daily is a publication for health professionals of Pharmacy Daily Pty Ltd ABN 97 124 094 604. All content fully protected by copyright. Please obtain written permission from the editor to reproduce any material. While every care has been taken in the preparation of Pharmacy Daily no liability can be accepted for errors or omissions. Information is published in good faith to stimulate independent investigation of the matters canvassed. Responsibility for editorial is taken by Bruce Piper.